These are the words of
Abraham, spoken to the Lord. He is essentially saying, “What good are all your
promised blessings when I don’t even have a son?”. Clearly, at this point in
his life, he believes that God’s promises will amount to naught.

As Ellicott notes in his
Bible commentary, there is a slight tone of complaint in these words but, as
Matthew Henry comments, although we must never complain of God, we
do have leave to complain to Him and to state our grievances. He
says “It is ease to a burdened spirit to open its case to a faithful and
compassionate friend”. Abraham's complaint is that he had no child, that he
was never likely to have one and that the want of a son was so great a trouble
to him that it took away all his comfort.

This misfortune of having
no child was acutely felt by Abraham but his fear was not only that he should
not have children but that the repeated promises by God of blessings to his
descendants and to the nations should never be accomplished.

Until Abraham had evidence
from God of some sort of fulfilment of His promise, he would not be satisfied.

How true is that of many
people today? They expect tangible evidence from God before they can begin to
consider Him seriously. They are unable to make a leap - even a small one - of faith;
are unable to see beyond their immediate concerns and to appreciate that God’s
canvass stretches far beyond their own immediate horizons.